Motorcycling is a popular leisure activity, the popularity of which seems to be ever increasing. Many motorcycling enthusiasts tour the country for several hours at a time sometimes for several days. This prevents challenges for motorcycle seat designers, because the comfort for both the motorcycle driver and passenger is paramount.
One device that has been used to improve the comfort of the driver is an adjustable backrest. Examples of such motorcycle seat backrests are found in Akimori et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,632, and Frank et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,119. While all of these backrests provide support to the middle and lower back of a seat occupant, they all suffer from severe limitations.
For example, the backrest disclosed in the '632 patent takes a considerable amount of time to adjust by rotation of a screw and can only be located behind the most rearwardly located seat occupant. Thus, only a single backrest of this disclosed construction can be used on a single motorcycle seat. This means that only one seat occupant will benefit by the backrest. Finally, this backrest is of rather complex and labor intensive construction and must be mounted to the frame of the motorcycle all of which increases assembly time and labor costs.
The backrest disclosed in the '119 patent is also attached to the frame of the motorcycle but is really best suited only for retrofit applications. In this backrest, the angle of the backrest cannot be adjusted, severely limiting the comfort the backrest can provide. Moreover, because of its construction, the entire backrest assembly must be manually removed in a time consuming and labor intensive manner should it be desired to temporarily forego the use of the backrest. Unfortunately, reinstallation is also labor intensive and time consuming. Finally, because of the rather bulky and obtrusive frame, a pair of these backrests cannot be installed on a single motorcycle seat severely limiting the versatility of this backrest.
What is needed is a motorcycle seat backrest that is selectively angularly adjustable and which requires no tools to make an angular adjustment. What is also needed is a motorcycle seat backrest having a backrest cushion that is vertically adjustable and which requires no tools to vertically adjust the cushion. What is still further needed is a backrest which can be completely and easily removed without the use of any tools. What is even still further needed is a motorcycle seat with an adjustable backrest that incorporates all of these features into a single unit.
What is further needed is an adjustable motorcycle seat backrest assembly that can be mounted to a single motorcycle seat either behind the driver or behind the passenger. What is still further needed is a motorcycle seat backrest adjustment assembly of compact construction such that two such assemblies that can be mounted to a single motorcycle seat with one such assembly located behind the driver and the other such assembly located behind the passenger. What is still further needed is a backrest and adjustment assembly that is modular and that can be assembled integrally as part of the motorcycle seat for minimizing labor and assembly costs, particularly when assembling the seat to a motorcycle.